(Down) Week in Review

53 Miles
6 Runs
10k Race in 36:49
No Long Run

This was a planned down week for two reasons -- I raced and I had 4 solid weeks of training at 65-70 miles on average.  I was hoping that the down week would ensure that I would race really fast, but that didn't happen.  While the race was a huge disappointment, I enjoyed the rest of the weekend by hanging out in Raleigh with Thomas, Michelle, Matt and Nick.

I'm also adjusting to my new role at work, which is taking up more time that in previous roles.  Sometimes I have to stay past 7pm, which for some people may not be a big deal at all, but for me, since I go to bed around 930 every night, it feels like all I do is work and sleep.  Additionally, since I'm in meetings all day, I haven't been doing a good job of eating since I don't take the time to grab my snacks.  I really need to focus on changing this bad habit so that it doesn't affect my running going forward.

NC 10k Championships Fail

Goal #1:  Win
Goal #2:  Win $500
Goal #3:  10k Race in Low 35

Actual:
3 mile warmup
10k race in 36:49 (552, 543, 559, 538, 621, 713), 3rd place, $150
2.5 mile cool down for 11+ miles total

I hadn't run a bad race in 2013 up until today.  I made up for that euphoric high I'd been on with a slew of positive race experiences over the past couple of months.  I think that the heavy racing schedule from April finally caught up with me and affected my performance today.  On the warmup I knew that today was going to be rough based on how my legs felt.  Unfortunately, my legs didn't lie and I struggled to maintain my goal Half Marathon pace in half the distance.

I even positioned myself perfectly by tucking in on the first mile and staying relaxed.  I stuck with the second place girl through mile 2, where we struggled with directions on the course as volunteers were lacking at the turns.  After the 2nd mile, the eventual winner pulled away from me (ironically in the very same spot that last year's winner ALSO pulled away from me at).  At that very point, I questioned why I even do this race because it seems that every year I always feel absolutely terrible and that the heat and the hills just rip me apart.

All you need to know is my legs felt heavy and tired, I got beat by the same girl that I beat just one month ago at the USATF 8k Champs (a very tough competitor) and I fell out of contention for the win after the second mile.  It wasn't my day, so I'm moving on as I know it's not a true indicator of where my fitness lies and is merely a small bump in the road on the way.  And, hey, at least I got to meet an awesome new runner on the scene (Stevie) and was able to spend some quality time with Thomas and Michelle!  On that note, I need to go celebrate the birth of Thomas at the pool, and I know such celebrations will not disappoint!

Tempo + 400s

Goal:
Pre Race workout with tempo + speed

Actual:
3 mile warmup
4x400m in 72, 73, 73, 72 w/ 1:30 rest b/w and 3:00 b/w set
2 mile tempo in 11:09 - 5:36, 5:33 (4:00 rest)
4x400m in 73, 75, 75, 74 with 1:30 rest
3 mile cool down for 10 miles total

Today Garrett left for baseball for the entire season, so it was silly of me to think that I'd actually wake up to do a workout with Laurie.  After a fitful night of sleep because I was undoubtedly thinking about Garrett leaving for 5+ months, I woke up to cancel on Laurie and sleep for an additional 2 hours.  By 8AM, Garrett dropped me off at work before embarking on a ten hour drive to Indiana to begin his baseball season.  Our goodbye went something like this as we left the house:

Garrett (heads for the door):  Alright, let's go.
Caitlin:  Uh...don't I get a hug or something.
Garrett (perplexed):  Oh, right...
Caitlin (gives Garrett a hug):  See you in July, I guess.
Garrett:  Yeah, I'm so excited to start pitching.

...In other words, peace out, wife!!  And Garrett left like giddy kindergartner on the first day of school while I remained the dejected, unpopular kid left behind.

Having said all that, I ran my workout in the evening with Caleb and Eric on the Dilworth Speed Loop.  I was really excited about all the splits I ran and felt really comfortable, but as I cooled down I realized that the times may have been a little too aggressive for a pre-race workout.  I'm hoping to win the 10k on Saturday, so I should have put on the brakes a little bit so I didn't feel so gassed after the workout.  We'll see what happens!

Week in Review

65 miles
Mile repeats in 5:30 average
16 mile long in 6:50 average
7 runs
2 lift sessions

After coming out of last week feeling a little tired, I opted to make this week a medium down week so that my legs could recover a bit from the past three solid weeks of training.  This week, I had 2 runs of 6 miles or less, which seems to be exactly what I needed to get some spring back into my step.   I felt much more energized in two solid workouts with Laurie as we continue to get into PR shape for the USA half champs. There's just 7 more weeks until the big June race, and I'm excited to increase my mileage a bit to get that strength and endurance up.

Next week, I'm hoping to take a nice down week, featuring a day off and a 10k race in Raleigh.  After that, it's basically smooth sailing to the half as I only have one more race - the China Grove 5k.  While I wish that I had been able to find a fast 5k course in early April to achieve a road PR, a 5k just two weeks before the half will have to suffice.  I trust that I'll still have enough speed within me to break the 17:00 mark for the first time since college.

Back to the Track: Mile Repeats

Goal:
4-5x mile with 400m rest gradually getting faster

Actual:
2.7 warmup
4xmile in 5:40, 5:35, 5:30, 5:20
2.3 cool down for 10 miles total

Prior to this morning, I hadn't been on the track for anything longer than 400m repeats since the CRC 100x5k back in March 2011.  I was excited, yet slightly nervous, for this adventure on the track for mile repeats.  I had mile repeats on the schedule, but Laurie had a different flavor of the same workout, so I opted for hers.  The goal was to get faster on each one and to end around 5:20 pace.  Laurie met at my house and we ran to JCSU to start our workout in the dark.  Charlie showed up a few minutes later and started his own workout at a faster pace than us.  Laurie and I alternated leads on each repeat, and it is amazing how we nailed the paces.  Every single lap was basically perfect...and by perfect I mean right at 85 for the 5:40 mile, plus or minus .2 seconds.  On the last one I had to lead us to a 5:20, so the pressure was on.  Fortunately we nailed it! I was tired after that fourth one and admittedly it was a little hard to run 5:20 in the trainers on the track.  A part of me wished that I had worn my racing flats, but it didn't really matter.

It was definitely great to have Laurie and Charlie out there because if they hadn't been there, I would have ditched the track after two lonely laps and opted for the roads.  Surprisingly, I rather enjoyed the time on the track and wouldn't be opposed to heading back out to JCSU in the near future for another speedy workout.

Week in Review

70 Miles
4 mile tempo in 5:55 + 4x400m
5 Miler Race in 28:44, 2nd place, $400
13.5 mile long run for Boston
7 runs

This week marked my third week out of four in which I headed out of town for a race with prize money.  I did not taper for this race and hit my highest mileage for 2013 with 70 miles.  For that reason, I had a fairly easy workout on tap for Wednesday, which I ended up doing alone.  By race day, the effects of the workout still hadn't cleared my system or my legs were tired from 3 consecutive weeks around 70 miles.

I got out of my car in Columbia, SC for the Women's Heart and Sole 5 Miler with high expectations to win.  It was my fourth year in a row running here and each year seemed to get better.  In 2010, I got third behind stiff competition (Janet Bawcom), in 2011 I held hands across the finish line with Meagan, and in 2012, I ran my fastest time on that course by over 45 seconds.  Hoping to best my time from last year, I came expecting to win and to push myself alone on the course.  I was so wrong!

On my warmup, I scoped out my competition and found basically no one.  However, on the start line, literally like 3 minutes before the race, the same chick that raced with me for half a mile at the Burrito Dash popped out of nowhere.  Off to the side stood her trusty coach and I knew it was going to be a good competition.  At this point, I hadn't discounted myself out yet.  After the gun went off, Joan (Burrito girl) and I took off for the $500 win.  By 1 mile, after we went through in 5:40, I knew that I was going to be out of the game.  On the downhill in mile 2, Joan took off and literally left me in the dust even though I ran a 5:20.  The hilly third mile began as I watched her gap even more distance between us.  While she probably split a 5:40, I split a 5:56.  At this point in the race, I basically just gave up. I knew that she was going to win handily and I also knew that there was no competition anywhere near me, so I settled.  I hate that I did it, but I did.  I gave in to a mental weakness and let her go and didn't try nearly as hard to catch her.  My splits are a little slower than last year, when I ran basically the same time but completely solo.  The key takeaway with this comparison is that I was able to motivate myself to go faster in those final 2 miles alone last year better than I could this year because I was "losing."  In the end, I crossed the finish line in 28:44, just 1 second off last year's time.  Fortunately I still came away with $400, which was great.  In the end, I know that I can beat Joan, but I just didn't have the heart to go for it this time around.

Sunday was highlighted with the Run for Boston at McMullen.  It was great to see 200+ runners come out in the rain to support Nicole and Michael Gross as they recover from this tragedy.  We enjoyed some soggy miles, great company and delicious homemade food for a couple hours in the early morning hours and I wouldn't have changed it for anything else.

Now on to next week, where I'll focus on my prep for the USA Half Marathon Champs

4 mile Tempo + 400s

Goal:
5 mile tempo in GHMP

Actual:
3.1 mile warmup
4 mile tempo in 23:40 5:55 (5:53, 6:00, 5:56, 5:52) + 400m in 79
3 mile cool down  for 11 miles total

The plan was to do whatever tempo Laurie was doing, but she had a rough night of sleep, so I was left to hopefully run with Jay Barringer.  Well, he didn't show up at the Dilworth Speed Loop at 6AM, so I had to find my own intrinsic motivation to get the work done.  While I am very appreciative of the running club and the plethora of group runs it offers, it has made me somewhat of a baby when it comes to working out on my own.  I guess it kind of makes sense because even in college, I rarely ran alone, and even if I did, my coach was there to support me.

To ensure that I got the work done, I decided to run the 800m speed loop four times.  After my garmin clicked off 2 miles, I headed to the standard 2 mile part and stopped after 4 miles.  Then I decided to do 4x400m to give my legs a little bit of a kick since I have an 8k coming up on Saturday.  While I would have liked to had faster splits for the tempo, I was pleased with how I bounced back after a slower 2nd mile.  The 400s didn't feel spectacular, but the point was not necessarily to go fast, but rather to get the legs going at a speed faster than tempo.

My goal for the half in June is to start out at 5:55 pace and then to gradually drop down to 5:50 so that I can be poised for a PR (faster than 1:17:50).  I think that if I continue to get these tempos done with company, I'll prove to myself that my goal is realistic.